Maria loves her hens and spoils them whenever possible, but she has no tolerance at all for chickens who get into her newly seeded and planted Dahlia Garden and peck away and tear things apart. She saw them in the garden yesterday and rushed over, jumping in, stomping her feet, and shooing them away. The hens seemed not to believe their eyes.

Is this the same person who brings them gourmet snacks every morning and hand-feeds them food and popcorn? The imperious hens fussed, clucked, and slowly and reluctantly walked away as Maria shouted at them and demanded they stay away. Caught. The moral, I told them, is to stay away from Maria’s gardens.